Techmeme
June 20, 2023, 8:20 PM

Top News

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Source: Spotify plans a more expensive “Supremium” tier with HiFi audio, audiobooks, and more, launching outside the US later in 2023; Premium costs $9.99/month  —  Spotify Technology SA is planning a more expensive subscription option that's expected to include high-fidelity audio …
Billy Perrigo / TIME:
Documents show OpenAI lobbied for parts of the EU's AI Act to be watered down, including successfully avoiding deeming general purpose AI systems as “high risk”  —  The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has spent the last month touring world capitals where, at talks to sold-out crowds …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple expands Self Service Repair to the iPhone 14 lineup, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and Max, starting on June 21  —  Apple today announced that its self-service repair program will be expanding to the iPhone 14 lineup, 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
The Anti-Meta Fedi Pact, circulated on Mastodon, pledges to block Meta's planned ActivityPub service, a petty and insular move that would keep Mastodon small  —  The Anti-Meta Fedi Pact: … Yours truly, on Bluesky a month ago (which, ironically, is not yet open itself, so here's an open preview):
Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal:
Crypto exchange EDX Markets, backed by Citadel, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab, quietly began executing trades via its “noncustodial” service in recent weeks  —  EDX Markets won't directly handle customers' digital assets or directly serve individual investors
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma betas automatically generate Apple ID passkeys; Apple․com and iCloud․com add passkey support so users can sign in without a password  —  You can now forgo entering your password on icloud.com and apple.com domains thanks to newly added passkey support.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Activision's Bobby Kotick, and Sony's Jim Ryan plan to testify in court over the FTC's bid to block the Microsoft-Activision deal  —  Microsoft is sending CEO Satya Nadella, Xbox chief Phil Spencer, and many other Xbox executives to defend against its Federal Trade Commission …
Jane Zhang / Bloomberg:
In a surprise shakeup, Alibaba names Eddie Wu as its CEO, replacing Daniel Zhang, effective September 10; Zhang will remain CEO of Alibaba Cloud  —  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is replacing eight-year veteran chief Daniel Zhang at the helm of a Chinese e-commerce leader bleeding market share …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
USA Today publisher Gannett sues Google over an alleged ad tech monopoly, echoing the US DOJ's arguments and saying audiences have grown but ad spending is down  —  - USA Today publisher Gannett is suing Google for allegedly illegally monopolizing the advertising technology market.
Martin Matishak / The Record:
The US DOJ announces NatSec Cyber, a new section within its National Security Division that will focus on prosecuting malicious foreign cyber activity  —  The U.S. Department of Justice is adding a new section to its National Security Division that will focus on prosecuting malicious foreign cyber activity …
Neesha A. Tambe / TechCrunch:
Render, which provides developers cloud-based services for hosting code, deploying web apps, and more, raised a $50M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners  —  Cloud platform startup Render closed a $50M series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.  Additional participation …
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Binance begins running Bitcoin Lightning Network nodes, as part of its plan to use the service for deposits and withdrawals, in response to network congestion  —  - Binance confirmed Tuesday it has started the process of integrating the Lightning Network.  — They would join rivals Kraken …
Tabby Kinder / Financial Times:
a16z, Sequoia, and others are increasingly investing in defense tech startups; PitchBook: US VCs invested $33B in the sector in 2022, up from below $16B in 2019  —  War in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions leads to belief that fledgling companies will get a share of US Pentagon budget

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Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Earlier Picks

Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
New York Times:
Sabrina Ortiz / ZDNet:
Frank Chaparro / The Block: